Thoughts on a Tascam 106???

[jjones1700]

I'm going to be acquiring a Tascam 106 mixer tomorrow. What's everyone's thoughts on that model? I know it doesn't have XLR or phantom power (obviously), but I could use a smaller mixer than my M-2516. I've repurposed my "studio" to mainly just as an office. I still tinker from time to time, but just don't have the room to dedicate to one of my 16 channel mixers at the moment. Perhaps this coming fall season will see a revamp of the garage and I'll have the space to set up the bigger mixers and/or chase down the elusive M520; my unicorn of sorts.

The unit I'm getting looks to be very clean and has been reworked not too long ago (according to the owner). I like the idea of having some analog meters giving me feedback vs. the LEDs in the other mixers. Just one of my quirks.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

I used to own an M106 back in the days of my 4 track adventures with an A3340S and at the time, having moved up from a Realistic (Radio Shack) DJ mixer with two line inputs and 3 mono microphone channels, it was an incredible upward leap in sound quality and routing flexibility. In those days, mid 80's, I didn't even dare dream of owning a microphone that needed phantom power and never cared that it was somehow lacking in any way. Indeed, I was pleased as punch to own it and loved how great it sounded and how incredibly noise free it was compared to my earlier mixers.

Those were great, creative days!

Cheers!

 

[sweetbeats]

Johnny, you talking about the M-106 with 4 groups? The 6 x 4 mixer?

I've always wanted to know more about what's under the hood of that "little" mixer.

I think it is a great little thing...inline features (AUX buss can source the line inputs) and a nicely featured monitor section...

How much is it setting you back?

An M-106 with a 4-track recorder (cassette or open-reel) would make a sweet compact but formidable package.

 

[jjones1700]

Thanks guys.

Cory, it's $100 and he is bringing it down from Dallas, since he has to come down here anyway for other business. If you want, I'll open her up and take some pics for you so you can see what goodies are in it.

From the photos the guys has posted, it looks like it has a ton of input/output on it. I know some are aux send/receive, RCA and 1/4" inputs for the channels, and various output sections, but still, it looks like alot of connections.

FM, mostly I'll be running a guitar through on or two of the channels, or have the SM7b running a channel as well. Just wonder if the preamps have enough "oomph" to work with the SM7b, or if I have to stick with my Presonus Eureka in front of it.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

FM, mostly I'll be running a guitar through on or two of the channels, or have the SM7b running a channel as well. Just wonder if the preamps have enough "oomph" to work with the SM7b, or if I have to stick with my Presonus Eureka in front of it.

The Mic you mentioned is 3 db less sensitive then an SM57, so you will need more gain to get the same levels to tape which means more hiss from the mixer's microphone preamp stage. If you're recording louder vocals or guitar cabs, that shouldn't be an issue. If you're recording softer vocals or quieter acoustic guitar tracks, there will be a bit more background hash to deal with. But, keep in mind we're talking about a 3 db loss of gain here which may or may not be totally manageable depending on the part and the rest of the mix.

The Mic preamps on the M106 sound good but they are not the world's quietest Microphone preamps on earth when you need to ride them past the 12:00 mark on the pot. So, if your input requires more gain then that to get a healthy level on the meters after gain-staging the main channel fader into the hash mark area, you might want to make use of your external preamp if it is quieter then the M106's microphone preamps.

Cheers!

 

[Beck]

It’s a great little mixer... sounds good with lots of routing capabilities. I bought one a while back to use as a model for adding some features to my M-200 series mixers (M-216 and M-208). Oddly enough the M-200 have no buss inputs to make staking mixers easier.

I knew the M-208 was based on the M-106 design and sure enough when I opened it up there was an easy map to adding direct outs and buss ins to my M-208. It’s a similar design with individual channel cards... very nice for modding and maintenance. I was going to resell it, but I’ve found use for it in the studio as a keyboard sub-mixer.